{"id":257805,"date":"2025-10-29T02:29:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T02:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/257805\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T02:29:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T02:29:10","slug":"windows-blown-in-trees-uprooted-and-croc-warnings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/257805\/","title":{"rendered":"Windows blown in, trees uprooted and croc warnings"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AFPAFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Hurricane Melissa is causing havoc in Jamaica as the Caribbean nation faces the strongest storm in its modern history.<\/p>\n

The hurricane, fell from a category four storm to category 3 with wind speeds of 125mph (201km\/h) on Tuesday evening, as it headed towards Cuba and then the Bahamas. Earlier, Melissa made landfall on Jamaica’s coastline with winds of more than 185mph.<\/p>\n

A Meteorological Service of Jamaica official had warned conditions would get “significantly worse” and the US National Hurricane Center predicted “catastrophic winds, flash flooding and storm surges”. <\/p>\n

Jamaican authorities urged residents and visitors to continue sheltering, as nearly a third of the country last power.<\/p>\n

Photos emerging from Jamaica since Hurricane Melissa made landfall show fallen trees and damaged homes.<\/p>\n

“It’s a catastrophic situation,” the World Meteorological Organization’s tropical cyclone specialist Anne-Claire Fontan said at a press briefing, warning of storm surges up to four metres high.<\/p>\n

“For Jamaica, it will be the storm of the century, for sure.”<\/p>\n

Roofs have been torn off hospitals, former Jamaican senator Imani Duncan-Price told the BBC.<\/p>\n

“People are trying to rescue people in the middle of the storm just to save lives.”<\/p>\n

Up to 30 inches (76cm) of rain is expected in some parts, with areas already experiencing flash flooding. Around 70% of the island’s 2.8 million population lives within 5km of the sea.<\/p>\n

\"AFPAFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Wildlife is also a threat. Flooding may displace crocodiles from their natural dwellings, Jamaican health officials said.<\/p>\n

“Rising water levels in rivers, gullies, and swamps could cause crocodiles to move into residential areas,” the South East Regional Health Authority said in a statement.<\/p>\n

“Residents living near these areas are therefore advised to remain vigilant and avoid flood waters.”<\/p>\n

Winston Warren, who said he lives less than 1km from the ocean, described “a constant roar of water”.<\/p>\n

“There are times you just wonder – are the waves going to come crashing into your house?” he said. “We’ve seen a lot of roofs blown off.”<\/p>\n

One woman told the BBC: “There is water coming in through the roof of my house. I am not okay.”<\/p>\n

\"EPAEPA<\/p>\n

The slow-moving storm is expected to remain powerful as it crosses Jamaica, whose highland communities are vulnerable to landslides and flooding.<\/p>\n

Even before the eye of the hurricane reached land, the region experienced extreme weather and fatalities. On Monday, Jamaica’s government said three people had died in “storm-related” incidents, involving falling trees.<\/p>\n

The storm is heading towards Santiago de Cuba, Cuba’s second-largest city.<\/p>\n

In Cuba, authorities said they evacuated about 500,000 people from areas vulnerable to winds and flooding.<\/p>\n

“Melissa will arrive with force, and there’s great concern about what it could destroy in its wake,” Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said in a message published in state newspaper Granma.<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Brandon Drenon and Gabriela Pomeroy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AFP via Getty Images Hurricane Melissa is causing havoc in Jamaica as the Caribbean nation faces the strongest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257806,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":{"0":"post-257805","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}